The Fake Lawyer
by TwilightTales
Summary: Edward Masen is a Special Agent for the National Security Unit of the FBI. He has been placed undercover at Cullen Hale law firm where he must uncover the employee committing fraud and embezzlement. Everyone is a suspect... Including, Bella Swan, the beautiful Associate that Edward can't keep himself away from. Can he keep up his charade in the face of love? AH EXB M for lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters.**

**Please enjoy!**

**This is not your typical FanFic, and the characters may be used in a different capacity than what you're used to!**

**EPOV for now. May be BPOV in later chapters.**

**M for lemons. All human. **

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_**Chapter 1**_

Law.

It had been my career choice since I was five years old. Not from my own choice, but because of my father's choice for me.

I would be lying if I said it didn't enthral me, but after graduating college, and then further graduating from Harvard Law, the last thing I wanted was to become an associate at a law firm. Now don't misunderstand me, I graduated in first place in my class and had offers from the top ten law firms in New York.

And I declined every single one of them.

I knew almost everything there was to know about law, I studied my ass off in college to make my father proud. But as I studied, I also learned how corrupt, cut throat and undeniably stupid the whole system was.

So after graduation I got approached by the FBI, and I gratefully accepted a position as Special Agent for National Security.

I'd been here five years. They used me for my expertise on law, and now it had came back to bite me on the ass.

"I hope you understand the implications of your assignment, Edward." I stared up at my boss, nodding my head with a slight scowl.

"I do. Though, I don't quite understand why it's me that has to do this. Plenty of the agents have a law degree."

"Yes, but none of them are as well versed as you. And none of them would be able to make partner as a first year associate."

My eyes widened, staring at Agent Weber with disbelief, "Excuse me? You want me to make partner?"

"If that's what it takes, yes." He sat forward in his seat, "You will be undercover at Cullen Hale law firm. They've checked out your background history all the way up to graduating Harvard, and they are _very_ excited to have you join their company, especially as a first year associate at thirty years old. The last five years of your employment history have been taken off record for the duration of your assignment, and they've been informed that you've been travelling for five years." He raised an eyebrow at me, "On daddy's money, of course. The Masen name will do you very well at Cullen Hale, your father owns three massive law firms in America, remember that. Of course, you will have to do associate work to keep up the pretence, so be aware of that. Carlisle Cullen is the Managing Director and he is the person who has called us in to investigate the firm. There is evidence to believe that embezzlement and fraud is occurring, and given that it is New York's biggest and most successful firm, thousands of people and billions of dollars are at stake. Further, if documents are being leaked and evidence is being buried then our city is at risk, and considering they deal with people all over America, our nation is at risk.

"You will be first year associate under Emmett Cullen, Carlisle's son. He's a senior partner, and even though they are family, Carlisle wants him investigated too. Jasper Hale is the other Managing Partner, and his daughter Rosalie Hale is the other senior partner. I will warn you, the Hale's are very cut throat, especially Rosalie, so you'd better take caution with them, and investigate thoroughly. You'll be placed with other first years, talk to them, bond with them, they will know more than you think. If you can charm some legal secretaries, paralegals, even junior partners... Do it. They'll tell you things without even realising it. Just don't make it obvious. We also don't know how long this assignment will take, so we'll convene every Sunday for an information brief. As of tomorrow morning you are no longer Special Agent Edward Masen, you are Edward Masen Associate, got it?"

Gritting my teeth, I gave a tight nod and took my assignment folder from his outstretched hand, "Got it."

I stared up at the massive building, the sun splitting through the other skyscrapers that lined the New York skyline. I had to admit, I loved the bustling city and business men and women rushing to get to work. I just wished I was going to work at the FBI headquarters a block away, rather than at Cullen Hale law firm.

Already missing the comfort of my massive, glass walled, cherry wood office back at the FBI, I have out a long sigh and made my way into the building.

The only good thing about this was I no longer had to wear my $2000 suits that I was too afraid to spill hot dog sauce on. Now I could get away with wearing my $500 suits and not look out of place.

At reception I gave my name and was greeted with an overly cheerful woman who swiped a Cullen Hale employee card, registered it to my name and then handed it to me.

"Here you go. Swipe it upon entry. Then head up to floor 30."

"Is this whole place the firm?" I balked at her.

She pursed her lips in amusement, "We are the top firm in America, sweetie."

I just nodded my head, suddenly feeling like I _was_ a first year and I was about to get thrown to the lions.

I made my way to the metal turnstiles, able to differentiate between the partners and the associates, simply from the quality of their suits.

The entire building seemed to be made from metal and glass, and I couldn't help but look around me with massive eyes as I swiped in and made my way to one of the ten elevators lined up before me.

It was like being in the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter, watching piles of people swipe through before heading straight for an elevator, gone within seconds.

The elevator on the far right had a gold plated sign above it stating; Partners.

Ok, definitely wasn't supposed to use that one then.

Instead, I chose one of the other nine elevators, hitting button 30 and watching as a few heads turned to look at me.

Yep. I was the new kid.

When the elevator reached my floor, I made quick work of stepping out. It seemed the elevator was super sonic and stopped for only a millisecond.

I glanced at my surroundings, wondering if there was a reception desk that I had to go to.

Instead I was met with two large offices, both of them with a glass wall and door so I could look inside.

Both had extensive bookcases lined up along the far walls. One filled with books, picture frames, and what looked like music, while the other was nearly empty.

They had long dark wood desks, both with papers and files lying on top of them, and large black office chairs beside them. Sofas also adorned the walls, with coffee tables and a drinks cabinet each.

I'd never seen anything more exquisite or expensive looking in my life, and I'd been to the Masen law firms before. My father didn't do things cheaply.

Outside both offices was two cubicles, still massive but more reserved. Their tables had far more papers on them, and coffee cups lay beside their computers.

I guessed, with quite a lot of confidence, that this floor, and the two large offices, belonged to Carlisle Cullen and Jasper Hale.

Snapping me from my reverie, I suddenly noticed a small, almost pixie like woman, standing by the other elevator, watching me with amused eyes.

"Hi." I stuttered out slowly.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "I know it's daunting, but you'll be fine. I'm Alice Brandon, I'm Mr Cullen's secretary."

"Nice to meet you Alice, I'm Ed-"

"Edward Masen. I'm aware. It's my job to be aware." She winked suddenly, and I couldn't help but laugh, "As you can probably tell, this floor belongs to the Managing Partners, Carlisle and Jasper." She pointed towards each office separately, and I noticed that the office with the filled bookshelves had Carlisle Cullen written in bold black writing across the glass door.

Jasper Hale's name was stamped on his door too.

"These cubicles belong to Maria and I." Alice smiled, "Maria is Mr Hale's secretary." She leaned closer, "Don't go near her."

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

She simply smiled, "If you can, stick with people associated with the Cullen's. Carlisle, Emmett, their secretaries, their associates... They're all much nicer than the Hale's. Though don't misunderstand me... If you need help with anything, it's better to ask a second or third year associate than to approach Mr Cullen himself. You're just stupid if you do that."

I just nodded my head, watching as she called another elevator.

She hit the button for the 25th floor, all the while explaining what the other floor's contained.

Floor 29: Senior Partners; Emmett Cullen, Rosalie Hale, "The Clear As Water Twins" Seth and Leah, Bree Tanner, and Jason Jenks.

Floor 27 and 28: Junior Partners.

Floor 26: Library (to be used frequently, according to Alice)

When we got to floor 25, Alice gently pushed me from the lift.

I looked back at her in shock as she stayed put, hitting the button to take her back to level 30.

"He's all yours." She called out to someone behind me, and as she disappeared, I turned to see who I was now faced with.

And as it turned out, she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. She wasn't strikingly pretty, like some women who flaunted it and threw it in your face.

She was natural.

I knew I was staring at her, but it couldn't be helped.

Her long brown hair flowed down her back, and a few of the shorter layers framed her pale, heart shaped face. Her large brown eyes stared right back at me, and I wondered what she was thinking.

It was as if I needed to know.

My eyes met red lips, plump and almost begging to be kissed.

I wished I could. And I was shocked at myself, because normally I had to speak to a woman before I wanted to kiss her.

She was dressed in a white blouse, tucked into a black pencil skirt that reached just above her knee. Speaking of said knees, her slender legs led all the way down to a killer pair of black heels that I ached for her to wear as I pinned her against the wall. Her figure was perfect, slim but curvy, and I somehow realised that to notice this I must have blatantly ogled the woman.

I flicked my eyes back to her face, and I noticed that she no longer look dumbfounded like I had a few seconds ago, she now looked incredibly bored.

"Are you done?" She questioned, and my whole body tingled at the sound of her voice, "I have work to do so I'd rather get this over with."

"Umm..." I stalled, trying to think of something smart to say, "I-"

"You're Edward Masen, I know. I'm Bella Swan. Follow me."

She turned on her heels and led me away from the elevators and into the floor.

There were rows upon rows of cubicles. There must have been about 15 or so in front of me.

They were big cubicles, bigger than I imagined, each with a desk, lamp, filing cabinet and a state of the art computer.

I let myself gawk for a few short seconds, watching as many people sat down at their desks and fired their computers to life. Some people looked like they'd been there all night.

Bella, beautiful Bella, turned her head towards me slightly as she walked between the cubicles.

"This is the first year associate area. You have a cubicle each. There are 20 first year associates, and you are the last to join us." She stopped at the last cubicle in the row, "This is yours. You'll spend a lot of time here within the next year."

She gave me a moment to set my briefcase down, and for those few seconds, I glanced around at the other associates. I could already tell there was a divide.

There were, of course, the cocky fuckers who thought they knew everything about law, could get laid every night, and also believed they were millionaires in their $200 suits.

And then there were the ones who were struggling to get paper work done. I could tell they were the geeks of the associates, they aimed to please and were scared shitless of messing up. So they took on extra work to make themselves look better, and instead all they did was stress themselves out even more.

Like I said, the law business is a bastard of a place.

I turned back around towards Bella, watching as she almost flicked her hair and led me round a corner.

I wasn't sure if it was my hormones talking, or my years of training within the FBI had taught me something about human behaviour, but I got the impression her uptight and superior bravado was just for show.

So, to show her some companionship, I stepped into a walk alongside her and flashed her a smile.

"So I was right." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Right about what?" I queried, confused.

"You are another pompous Harvard graduate who believes his god's gift to law."

I let out a laugh, but didn't get the change to answer because we were now faced with another block of cubicles.

These ones were much bigger, and most of them had two computers and an iPad each on their desks.

"These are the second year associates, there are 12 of them."

She began walking again, and I couldn't help but sneak a peak at her ass before following her.

"Just so you know, I'm not that guy." I told her honestly.

She must have been able to detect the sincerity in my voice, because I noticed her step falter slightly, but still she kept up her snobby persona.

We rounded another corner, and suddenly she stopped walking.

There was 3 offices in front of me, each of them looking like miniature versions of Mr Cullen's and Mr Hale's offices.

They were smaller, but each with a glass wall, a glass door, a large oak table in the middle with a computer and a telephone, plus bookcases lining the walls.

I glanced up to see if there were any names on the doors, and my eyes widened in surprise as I saw hers.

Isabella Swan

Senior Associate

She turned in a circle to face me, an almost smug smile on her lips.

"Paralegals and Legal Secretaries are down on floor 24. If you need any help your first port of call is them. Second port of call is the second year associates, and third is us." She motioned with a hand towards the three offices, "The third year associates."

I blinked, "You're a third year associate?"

I knew how my voice sounded, so I was prepared for her backlash.

"What, I don't look smart enough for that?"

"No, not that." I shook my head, and her face flitted with surprise, "You just don't look like you're long out of law school."

"I graduated law school two years early, and I've been here for three years. So yes, I may only be 26 years old but I'm smarter than half the people on this floor."

"And they cut it down to only three third year associates?"

"Yes." She folded her arms, and I found her little pout adorable, "So good luck getting this far."

I tilted my head slightly, watching her with amusement, "And why exactly have you got an obvious problem with me, Miss Swan?"

She gritted her teeth, and I waited as she calculated her answer.

"Cullen Hale hires 99% of it's graduates from Harvard Law. Only 1 person has ever been hired outside of that..." She paused, "And that person is me... It doesn't matter what I tell people, or however I show my intelligence, people always look down on me because I'm not a member of the Harvard club." She took a step towards me, "You're a member of the Harvard club, and even worse you're the boy who thought he would take five years off, just to then apply for the best law firm in America and get accepted straight away. Harvard people have life handed to them on a plate, and simply because I went to Columbia, everyone just assumes I'm stupid." Smirking, she lifted a hand and pointed to her name on the door, "But there is a reason I work at Cullen Hale. There is a reason I'm the 1% who got a job here without going to Harvard. There is a reason that my name is on that door and soon enough, it'll be on a door upstairs with 'Junior Partner' written straight after it. It's because I'm smart. It's because I know the law." She whispered low suddenly, "And you want to know what else? It's because I'm the only person in this entire building, apart from Carlisle Cullen himself, who has _never_ lost a case." She smiled, a beautiful heart stopping smile, "Carlisle and I are the only two people. First years, second years, third years, junior partners, senior partners, Emmett Cullen, even Rosalie and Jasper god damn Hale... They've all lost. Except Carlisle..." She folded her arms, "And me."

I stared at her for a long moment, humbly impressed by her achievements at such a young age. But I also pitied her for her need to be successful, as she clearly had not been treated well by her peers.

It was these facts that made me sure...

Isabella Swan would be the first person I investigated as the embezzler at Cullen Hale.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the support! Here is another chapter!**

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_**Chapter 2**_

_WHAM._

A stack of files were dropped onto my desk as I sat in my cubicle waiting for Emmett Cullen to summon me.

Just after Bella had given me her little speech she made a ceremonious movement to go into her office and close the door in my face.

It was completely pointless, of course. Because her door, and her entire wall, was made from glass.

She sat down in her seat and flipped open one of the files on her desk.

Taking a quick glance at me, she shouted out so I could hear her, "Go sit at your cubicle. Turn on your computer and set up your Cullen Hale account. Emmett should be down to get you sometime soon."

And so, that's exactly what I did.

An hour ago.

I watched a lot of the people around me, and only one of them, a guy called Eric Yorkie, introduced himself. He was another first year, his cubicle was across from mine on my left, and he was definitely one of the geeks.

But he was nice.

And we'd get along.

After approximately 64 minutes of waiting, Bella Swan rounded the corner and headed straight for Eric's desk. It seemed to make sense that she would favour the geeks over the cocky guys.

She was leaning over his cubicle, discussing a file in his hands, when these files were flung down in front of me.

"You Masen?" The deep voice sounded from the front of my cubicle, and I took a long glance at the files before looking at the person in front of me.

And he was like a little boy.

His dirty fair hair was spiked up with far too much gel, and his baby face seemed almost cocky as he took me in.

I lent back in my seat as I studied him, "Considering I'm probably older than you, you can manage to call me Edward."

The boy's face blanched, but he soon recovered, "You may be older than me, but you're still a first year. I'm a second year."

He took a quick look around him to see if anyone was listening to our encounter.

Of course, they were.

Even Bella Swan had turned around from her discussion with Eric to listen.

"These files have to be taken up to Emmett Cullen... Now. You can find your way, can't you rookie?"

He smirked once, raising an eyebrow at me before he moved away from my cubicle.

However, he was only able to take one step before Bella Swan appeared in his place in front of me. She placed her hand on my cubicle wall, tilting her chin up slightly as she stared at him.

"Mike?" Her soft voice called sweetly.

I watched as he turned around, his face lighting up.

He reminded me of a puppy.

"Yeah, Bella?"

"Come 'ere." She grinned sweetly, beckoning him back toward us.

He walked over quietly, looking at me smugly before smiling at her.

Everyone in the first year associate area watched with caution, and I automatically felt that I was missing out on some secret.

Bella was acting like she and Mike were best friends.

But, it seemed like her friendliness was fake.

"You need help with the merger for Carlisle?" He asked curiously.

Continuing to watch them, I saw Bella's smile fall from her face like Mike had just slapped her silly. She suddenly looked angry.

Now I understood what everyone else was waiting for.

"Let's get one thing straight, Mike." She began slowly, holding up one perfectly manicured finger, "Firstly, I would never need help with a merger, or anything for that matter, related to law. Secondly, even if I did, I'd never ask you..." I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips at her words, but she took no notice of me as she continued, "Edward is a new first year associate, and I reckon he deserves to be treated with more respect than to have Emmett's files thrown at him, and to be addressed so rudely by a baboon like you."

Mike's face had dropped, and his child like mouth was hanging open as his cheeks grew red, "Bella, I-"

"No no no." She shook her head, "If you want to do the whole 'you're a first year, I'm a second year' thing then I reckon you need to remember that you're a second year and _I'm _a third year. There is a reason you're dropping off files to Edward instead of working on real cases like us big kids. It's because not only were you just scrapping the top fifteen in your class in Harvard, but you also finished in 12th place after your first year at Cullen Hale. You were the last person to get through to second year and even that was a stretch. While Edward here," she motioned to me with a smile, and I watched as Mike's eyes flickered to mine with embarrassment, "He finished top of his class at Harvard. He was first place. And not only is he older than you in age, but I'd say maturity, looks, and probably brains as well. You better hope Emmett doesn't pitch him against you for a case, cause I'd bet on him to win." Her faced changed suddenly, and she smiled again, "Now, on you go Newton. I have proper work to do."

Every first year associate watched her with amused eyes, every single one of them impressed with her as Mike turned on his heels and walked away from us and around the corner.

I opened my mouth to speak, watching as Bella let out a long breath and smoothed out her shirt.

"I can see now why you're such a good lawyer." I smiled, "So you don't think I'm a typical Harvard guy then, huh?"

She turned towards me, "I haven't made my mind up about you yet. You are probably another Mike Newton. But I hate when he picks on the first years, and I absolutely loathe him." She shrugged, "So it gives me great pleasure to put him in his place."

I smiled up at her, watching as she read my expression and slowly began to smile back at me.

Just for a second, I could see her strong exterior wall crumbling down.

"You'd better get up to Emmett with those files. Floor 29." She tapped my cubicle once, before transferring a gaze over to Eric, "Come see me at 11am and I'll help you some more." She told him, "I have a deposition at 10:30 but it shouldn't last too long."

"Thanks, Bella." He smiled at her, and as she walked away from us I saw the overflow of respect for her in his gaze.

I stood up, bundling the files into my arms before I stepped out, bypassing Eric's cubicle with a smile.

His face wasn't looking at me though. Instead, everyone's attention had turned to the elevators, watching quietly as a blonde curly haired male stood talking with a dark haired woman.

I knew from my research of the firm that both Carlisle and Jasper were blonde haired, but I knew that Jasper was the curly haired one.

The dark haired woman he was talking to suddenly got back into the lift, and he turned his attention to the twenty cubicles before him.

By the cold look in his eyes, I found myself taking a step back into my area again, not wanting to be in his way.

We all stayed quiet as he walked towards us all and stopped at one of the first offices, peering down at the first year associate with hard eyes.

"Crowley?" He muttered slowly.

"Y-Yes Mr Hale." The young man replied slowly.

"Have you got the research done for my settlement proposal? I asked for it on my desk at 9am. It wasn't there."

"I uh... I nearly have it finished." Crowley fumbled with a few of the papers on his desk before stopping and looking up at Jasper.

"Does 9am not mean 9am or something now? Have you new kids changed the law of time? I asked for it so I could work on the settlement for my meeting at 2pm. Are you incompetent?"

"No. I-I'm not." Crowley shook his head, his cheeks growing red.

"Well perhaps not." Jasper agreed, "But what if this wasn't just a simple settlement? What if we were going to trial for a murder? Or rape? Or anything more serious? Would you have had it done by 9am? Maybe. Maybe not. But you're definitely not competent enough for this firm. You're fired."

No one in the associate area flinched. None of them even acted surprised.

Except for me of course.

Crowley just lowered his head, swallowing thickly.

Jasper Hale was gone a second later, back to the elevator and up to his office on floor 30.

Glancing sideways at Eric, my eyes held the question I couldn't bring myself to ask, and he just shrugged his shoulders sadly, "It happens. Last week your cubicle saw four new owners before you came along."

I didn't answer, instead I just made quick work of getting to the elevators and making my way to Emmett Cullen's floor.

I was almost running, glancing into each office to find him, or see his name on the door.

All the way at the far end of the floor, I found both Rosalie Hale's and Emmett Cullen's offices.

I stopped in my tracks, glancing at the blonde haired secretary outside Emmett's door, "I'm Edward." I let out quickly.

"Go on through." She nodded, barely glancing up at me before her eyes found her computer again.

I could already see him from outside, and I peered through the glass wall to determine his mood. He was a big bulky man, though his well tailored suit fit him perfectly. His brow was furrowed over some paperwork, and in one hand he held a coffee cup, and in the other he was holding a half eaten bagel.

His door was lying open, and I took a step inside, "Um, Mr Cullen?"

His head snapped up, and he flashed me a brilliant smile, his mouth full of food, "Come in!" He mumbled, chewing loudly as he took another bite, "Edward Masen, correct?"

"Yes, that's me." I smiled at him, walking forward and taking a seat at his desk.

"Call me Emmett from now on." He nodded, holding up a paper bag to me, "Bagel?"

"No thanks." I smiled.

So Alice was right, the Cullen's were a lot nicer than the Hale's.

"Now, obviously you got handed your files today." He motioned towards the pile in my lap, "As it's your first day it's obvious things will be a little topsy turvy, but for future reference; your files will be placed at your cubicle by 8am each morning. I want you to skim over each one of them, get a feel for the cases, and then I want you and the files at my office at 9am."

"Ok." I nodded.

"Then at 9am, we'll have coffee and some bagels while you call out the general summary of each case. With each case I'll tell you whether it'll be a settlement, a trial, an offer etc etc, got it? And I'll expect you to write down what each case will be."

"Yep, that's perfect."

"For the bigger cases, we'll arrange depositions, meetings, mergers and such. I'll do my work throughout the day, and I'll also assign you work too, like research, or drafting a settlement, helping prepare for a trial etc. I also know that it's not all about office work and sitting at your cubicle all day, so you'll come to each meeting with me, and trials too."

"That sounds brilliant!"

I was surprised by my enthusiasm... After all, I wasn't actually pursuing a career in law.

"I'm only thirty five." Emmett shrugged, "I understand and empathise with the associates who are stuck in their cubicles all day."

I didn't have the chance to answer, because suddenly Emmett's attention diverted to someone outside the office.

"Hey Rosie!" He called sweetly, "Looking good today baby!"

I turned my head to look outside, my eyes widening at the tall blonde haired woman outside, speaking quietly to her secretary.

Her make up was heavily done, and her hair looked like hours had been spent on it. But it wasn't because of her looks that my eyes widened...

It was because she looked _evil_.

She glanced in the office, looking at Emmett with a scowl before she walked away and into her own office next door, rolling her eyes and flipping Emmett the bird.

My boss just laughed, "It's common knowledge that Rosalie Hale is in love with me." He nodded confidently.

I raised an eyebrow, "To be honest, it seems like common knowledge that she's going to file a harassment law suit against you."

Emmett just laughed, "True. She and her minions like to make my life hell."

"Minions?"

He leaned closer, speaking low, "My secretary is called Kate. Rosalie's is called Irina. They're sisters. Sometimes I think they play pranks on me, I came in here one day with a client and there was a whoopy cushion on my chair." He laughed, leaning back in his seat, "They have a sister down on your floor. Tanya. She's a second year, pretty rude."

"Pretty rude?" I let out a laugh.

"Pretty. And rude." Emmett grinned, finishing off his coffee before he sighed, "Ok, we'll do the files after this meeting."

Following his lead, I stood up, watching as he grabbed a Manila folder from his desk drawer.

It contained one piece of paper.

"Meeting?"

"Yes." He nodded as we walked out of the office, "AP Marketing are filing a law suit against Ferguson Designs for plagiarism."

"Who is our client?"

"Ferguson."

"Did they do it?"

"Does it matter?" He flashed me a grin as we reached the elevators.

"Uhhhh..."

Not able to find words, I just watched as Emmett got into the elevator, watching as he pressed the button for floor 20.

"Floor's 20-24 are full of conference rooms." Emmett muttered to me, "And no, they didn't do it."

I fixed my tie, coughing a little as we reached our floor. I followed Emmett's lead, and I noticed how automatically his friendly and open persona turned into one that could mirror Jasper Hale.

He stopped outside a room labelled conference room 5, and he didn't stop for a breath as he swung open the door and led us in.

Two people sat at the long table representing AP Marketing, neither of whom got to utter a word as Emmett slammed the folder down into the table.

"This folder holds one sheet of paper. It's a retraction of your lawsuit against Ferguson Designs and I suggest you sign it."

His eyes almost cut through the two men in front of him, and I balked at the sudden "cut throat lawyer" that had emerged.

"And what makes you think-"

"Stop." Emmett held up a hand, "Don't try to press your case anymore. Your relationship with Ferguson has never been nice, but we now have evidence to believe that AP Marketing have destroyed documents which prove that Ferguson Designs came up with their ideas approximately two months before you used them. So, you actually stole them from Ferguson... Not the other way around."

One of the men sat up straight in his seat, and I watched as his face went white with shock.

The other man however, was angry.

"How dare you! Where's this evidence then, huh?"

He was calling Emmett out, and I could feel my teeth gritting in frustration for him.

"I have four employees of yours who are willing to testify that they saw and heard your meeting with Ferguson Designs, and that they also know of the documents being destroyed." Emmett leaned back on his heels, placing his hands in his pockets, "So, do you want to sign the retraction? Or should I bring you to trial, bring my witnesses in, and counter sue you for double the amount you were asking from my client... Now let me see..." He scratched his chin, "I'm a lawyer not a mathematican, but I reckon that amounts to 15 million dollars... You game?"

I watched as the two men looked at each other before the previously angry male nodded his head in defeat, "Fine. We'll sign."

Emmett smiled, "Good." Turning to me, he gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Boys, I'm going to leave and get myself some coffee. This is my associate Edward Masen, he'll wait for you to sign and take the document from you. We'll send a copy to both you and Ferguson Designs." Reaching for the door handle, Emmett flashed me a victorious grin, "Welcome to Cullen Hale."

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	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! So there's been a lot of information from the last two chapters that you've all had to digest, so this chapter is smaller!**

**Enjoy!**

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**_Chapter 3_**

I was pretty sure my head was thumping in time with every new word I read.

It was past seven in the evening, yet the associate floor buzzed with life as if it were two in the afternoon.

After Emmett's meeting this morning, we met in his office for coffee as we went through his files.

A half an hour later we were done.

For the cases we knew we would take to trial, we called to arrange depositions.

For the settlement cases, Emmett decided he would work on them throughout his day.

At the bottom of the pile though, there was one lonely pro bono case, and almost immediately Emmett threw it at me.

"Have fun." He told me.

It turns out Emmett had fulfilled his quota for pro bono for the whole year, so he wanted me to take the case.

And I'd been sat here ever since.

Well, apart from my quick lunch with Eric.

Everything was getting to me already, and I hadn't even been in the building a day. It was a busy workplace, and I wasn't sure how I was supposed to investigate everyone AND keep on top of my associate job.

"How many people work at Cullen Hale?" I'd asked Eric as he shovelled his burrito in his mouth.

"Including IT, Accounts and all that jazz?" He asked, and I nodded my head, "About 3,000."

"Woah." Was all I could manage to say.

As it turned out, I actually liked Eric a lot. And it hurt my heart a little when he revealed that he'd never been to lunch with another Cullen Hale employee.

"I'm the geekiest of the geeks." He nodded with a sigh, "Even the geeks don't like me."

"Bella seems to like you." I offered.

"She likes to help me. I think she pities me."

"I'm sure that's not true. How come you don't ever ask her to go to lunch?"

He burst out laughing at my question, "Bella? Leave her office? You're kidding yourself if you think that happens."

"Why?"

"Bella's the hardest working person at Cullen Hale." He'd shrugged, "I think she feels like she has something to prove, but in reality everyone admires her... She'll be in her office at 7am, and she won't leave until 10pm at the earliest."

Turns out he was right.

I'd been at my cubicle all day and I'd yet to see her pass me to head to the elevators.

But I had to stop thinking about her, because if I was being honest, she'd plagued my thoughts all day.

But it was just because I was investigating her, of course.

By 9pm, every other associate had left. Even Eric.

I sat alone, glancing again at the pile of notes I'd written up from various sources, all to do with my pro bono case.

Rape.

You see, lawyers hate to deal with pro bono's because it's government work and they don't get profit on it.

Heaven forbid Cullen Hale lawyers didn't get their $2000 an hour salary.

And meanwhile, this poor woman was trying to find someone to deal with her case.

Luckily for me, I had a strong argument in her favour.

I arranged to meet with her tomorrow morning to go over the details, but as a male I was scared I might freak her out if she was in a bad headspace.

That was exactly why I found myself walking around the corner to Bella Swan's office, eager for her shed some light on how I should handle it.

As I knocked on her glass door and opened it slowly, her studious eyes raised themselves from a notepad, narrowing at me in surprise.

"You're still here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"No, I'm an illusion." I attempted to joke, but it only made her scowl, "Yes, I'm still here." I mumbled.

"Normally on an associates first day they're out the door at 5pm." She noted, leaning back on her chair and crossing her fingers in front of herself, "That's also why they normally don't come back the next morning."

She smiled at me then, and I felt the breath I was holding get caught in my throat at the sight of her. Especially with a cute little pencil stuck behind her ear.

It automatically made her look naughty.

But by God, she really was beautiful.

"Can I have some help?" I asked quickly, "No one else is here."

She bit her lip, and even though I was automatically jealous of her teeth getting to be so close to her, I felt eternally grateful when she nodded her head and invited me inside.

I took a seat on the one chair across from her desk, handing the file to her.

"It's a pro bono case. Rape."

"You're doing a pro bono?" She looked at me skeptically, opening the file before she reached up and pulled the pencil from behind her ear.

"Shouldn't I be?"

"Well..." She shrugged, "Not many people at Cullen Hale waste their time with pro bono's. Even associates."

Waste my time?

"Excuse me?" I felt anger flare within my bones, and my eyes flashed to hers, "This woman was raped. It's not all about the millions of dollars that we can pull in to the company. This woman was hurt and it's OUR job to get the asshole who did it and put him in jail. That's what the law is for."

Bella stalled, her mouth dropping open as she stared at me.

I took in a breath, my face red with annoyance as I kept my gaze level with hers.

But suddenly, she smiled.

And not just any smile... A warm, friendly, and caring smile.

"Wow." She breathed, "I've never heard anyone put it like that."

I attempted to ignore her awed gaze, instead standing up and lifting my file from her hands.

"I can handle this on my own thanks, I don't need-" My voice cut off as I glanced at her desk.

Laid out before her were numerous sheets of paper, and a large file was flung open with red and yellow pages calling out to my attention.

It was a house dispute case.

Which meant it was most definitely pro bono.

And Bella was most definitely working on it.

Raising my eyes to hers, I watched her as she grew flushed under my gaze.

"I said most people didn't waste their time with pro bono's... Not that I didn't." She spoke quietly, and I couldn't even reply so I just waited for her to continue, "Like I told you before, I'm one of the best lawyers here. I get my case work done by 5pm almost every night... But normally I stay until 10pm or 11pm working on pro bono's."

"That's..."

Amazing?

Wonderful?

Beautiful?

Could I even put it into words?

"Bella, I'm sorry." I shook my head, taking a seat again in front of her as my body almost shook with embarrassment.

She held up her hands with a smile, "No blood, no foul... So what do you need help with?" She asked, beckoning for me to hand her the file again.

In that instant, as I watched her take the notes and read them carefully, her eyes full of sorrow and sadness for the young woman in question, I wanted so badly to take her off my investigation list.

It couldn't be her, surely?

Could it?

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**Like I said guys, very short BUT this chapter is crucial for the next chapter.**

**Because the next chapter is BIG.**

**Please review and I'll update ASAP?**


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapter for you guys! Thank you so much for all the feedback, please keep it coming as it really inspires me to write!**

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_**Chapter 4**_

You know those movies, the sickeningly romantic ones, when the guy stares at the girl with his mouth hanging open and a look of sheer wonder in his eyes?

That was exactly how I looked right now.

Bella Swan amazed me.

I watched her as we sat in Cullen Hale's law library, our bodies surrounded by books and boxes of public case files. We were sitting at one of the large tables, numerous pages and files spread out before us as we flicked through reference books while eating from a mountain of Chinese take out cartons.

Bella's hair was half tied up in a bun, though the other half laid around her shoulders, having fallen from her hair tie every time she threw her head back to laugh.

Yes, Bella Swan laughed.

At _my_ jokes.

Her make up from this morning had long worn off, and even though she barely wore any make up at all, I couldn't help but revel in how beautiful she was.

Although her eyes were tired, she chatted with me non stop.

Now, don't mistake me. It took a lot of effort for me to get us to this stage.

A few nights ago, when I asked for Bella's help with my pro bono case, I saw another side to her I didn't realise existed.

And the next morning, before I met my client, she prepared me in the best way possible.

"Don't roll your sleeves up." She'd instructed me, yanking my shirt sleeves down my arms gently, "You'll look aggressive."

"Unbutton the top of your shirt." She'd reached up to do it for me, fixing my tie to look more casual.

And I couldn't help but wish she was dressing me after a sleepless night full of sex.

"Smile at her." She warned, "She wants you to accept her. Not judge her. Also, remind her you're there to help her. _Always_ repeat that fact."

And it worked. I settled the case.

My clients confidence soared so much that after I met with her she was prepared to go to court. Her rapist ended up pleading guilty that night, and would soon be on his way to jail.

Bella was the first one to congratulate me.

And I was happy I'd made her proud.

Since then, when I came into work the past few mornings, I grabbed her a coffee en route.

At first she just looked at me like I had five heads, but eventually she began to smile.

She said thank you.

And she was grateful.

Soon enough, I was able to go into her office to ask her for any help I needed. And yesterday she offered to buy sushi over lunch so we could work on my case together and get it done quicker.

We got out of Cullen Hale at 7pm.

It was the quickest she's ever finished work.

Tonight though, I'd finished my work early and offered to help her with hers.

Hence why it was past midnight and we were still stuck here.

For the first few hours of our research, Bella's intelligence astounded me. Every lawyer has brains, but Bella's seemed to be capable of running this entire company. And even though I was impressed, it caused a resounding fear in me that she was capable of being the embezzler at Cullen Hale.

All my coffee runs, asking her for help, offering to help her tonight... It was all because Bella Swan was my main point of investigation.

This was my job.

That was it.

And I couldn't help but wonder if I'd met her under different circumstances, would I have asked her out already... Would I have already kissed her?

Because I ached to kiss her now.

It was these thoughts that convinced me that I didn't just spend time with her because of my case... It was because I liked her. I wanted to know her.

And right now I was beyond confused about what was happening in my life.

"Probably Schindler's List." Bella's voice resounded into my thoughts, and I blinked, glancing at her as she ate a large bite of Chow Mein.

I'd been asking her questions about herself for the past two hours, and we'd just gotten onto the topic of favourite movies.

"What?" I gawked at her, laughing a little, "The movie that makes you cry the most is Schindler's List? Not, The Notebook or some girl shit like that?"

"I've never seen The Notebook." She shrugged, "And I'm the type of person that when I cry, I want them to be real tears. Like, _real_ tears."

Ok, note to self: Never make Bella Swan cry, because then you've REALLY done something to fuck up.

"Favourite comedy movie?"

"Tie between Drop Dead Fred and Mrs Doubtfire." She nodded once with conviction. She was very sure of that answer.

"Favourite book?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh." Bella frowned, leaning back in her seat. Her feet were crossed under her, and her heels lay on the floor.

It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

"Tough question?" I raised an eyebrow.

She nodded, "I love reading. But it's definitely Wuthering Heights."

"Not a bad choice." I smiled, "It's one of my favourites too."

"What's your favourite colour?" She asked suddenly, tilting her head to the side.

"I don't have one." I answered honestly, my mind going blank as I stared into her brown depths.

Perhaps after tonight I would have a favourite colour.

"Tell me about your dad." She asked suddenly, "It must be awesome having a father so successful."

I snorted once and looked away from her face, focusing on my Chinese as I thought of my answer.

"Is that a bad question to ask?"

"No... I just..." I paused.

I didn't want to lie to Bella. At the moment, the only lie I had told her was that my job was a Cullen Hale associate, and not an FBI agent.

Everything else I'd told her was true. Everything about myself, everything about my hobbies, my interests...

And in that moment, I vowed to myself I wouldn't lie to her unless it was directly related to the case.

"I don't get on with my father." I smiled sadly, glancing up at her face, "He used to pressurise me from a young age to do the best, _be_ the best. He was the reason I went to Harvard... I didn't exactly have a choice on my College or my degree course." I laughed a little, watching as her face softened sadly, "The one thing I wanted when I finished Harvard was to get a job anywhere but in a law firm."

"Is that why you travelled for five years?" She whispered gently.

"It's why I didn't join a law firm straight out of College." I confirmed, not wanting to jumble up any wires.

"What about your mom?" She asked then, smiling at me in what I knew was hope for a better story.

"My mom always wanted me to be happy. She stuck with my father as I grew up... I don't think she wanted me to stress out over their separation... But once I went off to College, she filed for divorce straight away. My father was always married to his job as a lawyer. While she was always married to her job as a mother." I grinned, shrugging as I sat up more in my seat, "She's always there for me. Very supportive. I see her every Sunday."

"That's sweet." She was smiling at me, an open smile that sort of said 'if he treats his mother right, he'll treat his wife right too'.

"What about your family?"

"Oh uh..." She laughed, putting her food down before diverting her attention to the reference book in her lap, "My parents are dead."

Silence hung over us like a blanket, and I watched her face as she flicked through the pages studiously, her familiar wall of defence automatically up again.

It was obvious that even though Bella and I were friendlier than before, we were definitely not as close as I would like.

"I'm sorry." I whispered quietly, hating myself for asking the question.

"It's okay." She smiled, moving her eyes to mine, "They died when I was sixteen. They left me enough money to set myself up with an apartment, to live comfortably, and get myself through College and Law School. Now I make enough money to live for myself."

I nodded, biting my lip as I thought of the one question that had been niggling at me since I started working here.

"Bella? Why didn't you go to Harvard? You're smarter than any of us."

She laughed loudly, throwing her head back in that beautiful manner I was beginning to love so much.

"I got accepted to Harvard." She grinned, "I just declined in favour of Columbia."

"Why?" My eyes widened, shocked and completely dumbfounded by her words.

"From I was a kid my dad used to take me on day trips to Columbia. Just to sit and look at the place, eat lunch on campus, walk through the buildings... He told me he'd love to see me graduate from there one day."

Her voice got thick, and I watched as she lowered her head to her book before she sighed, "I'm tired, I'd better get home."

"Yeah, of course." I coughed lightly, trying to remove the lump in my throat as I looked at my watch.

1am.

Helping her clean up the work and carry it back up to her office, I wished her goodnight before riding the elevator with her to the basement, watching to make sure she got to her car safely before I exited the building and started the walk home.

As I unlocked my apartment door and tiredly pushed myself inside, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

_Weber calling..._

_Weber calling..._

I hit accept, pressing the phone to my ear as I put my bag by the door and began to walk towards the bedroom.

"Edward?" Weber's voice sounded down the receiver, "You awake?"

"Obviously." I laughed.

"I'm going to be at your apartment in five minutes." He told me, sounding out of breath and flushed, "It's important."

The line went dead a second later, and I made quick work of changing into my pyjamas before I heard my buzzer.

I let him into the building, sitting down in my living room as I waited.

A few minutes later, the door was closed, a Manila folder was dropped onto my coffee table and Weber smiled brilliantly.

"I know it's late, but this document could help you get this case finished by the end of next week."

Next week?

I'd have to leave Cullen Hale so soon?

I should be happy about that.

But I wasn't.

I raised an eyebrow, reaching for the folder as Weber sat down across from me, "It's one of the missing buried documents. It's the only one that remains, they must have missed this one when they were destroying them. It's stamped with a name that I think could be the culprit. $2 million went missing from this company. We're lucky to have found it."

As I stared into Weber's excited eyes, I frowned as felt my stomach churn as I flipped open the folder and looked at the name on the bottom of the page.

_SENIOR ASSOCIATE_

_Isabella Swan_

My eyes shut, and I felt my teeth grit together as anger and sadness coursed through me.

She seemed so real, so legitimate.

And now there was even more proof that she was the embezzler.

"Thanks." I nodded towards Weber, keeping my tears at bay as I showed him to the door, "I'll get on it tomorrow."

He was gone seconds later, and I spent my night sitting on the sofa with the document in my lap.

Bella seemed like the perfect suspect on paper: striving for success, hating on Harvard graduates aka the entire population of Cullen Hale...

But in reality... In person... She was the sweetest, realist, nicest and most perfect person... She seemed like she didn't have a bad bone in her body.

And I realised with chagrin that that's probably exactly what she wanted me to believe.

By the time 6am rolled around I was seething with anger. I got showered and ready for the day, placing the document in my bag before I ate a quick breakfast and made my way to Cullen Hale.

I didn't stop to say hello to anyone on the associate floor, I simply threw my bag onto my cubicle desk, taking the document from it before I turned and made my way to Bella's office.

My face was red, my eyes were hard and angry, and as I caught sight of Bella with her head lowered over a sheet of paper as she sat at her desk, my annoyance just grew even more because _I actually liked her_, and she was nothing but a fraud.

I felt cheated.

I pushed her door open, closing it with a thud as she gasped in surprise at my suddenly appearance.

She looked so innocent.

And I knew that right now I was not handling this professionally... My cover could be blown in seconds.

And so could hers.

I walked to her desk, staring at her for a long moment with what felt like fire within my eyes, before I slammed the document down onto her desk.

Her eyes flicked to it quickly, wide and shocked at my behaviour before she raised them back to my face.

"Edward?" She whispered, unsure.

"Explain this." I seethed, "Right now."

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